confused on third gen.

hey guys.
ive been tryin to decide if i want to buy a 3rd gen for my car. im only 16 and i dont have alot of money. i have been tryin to test drive one buy i cant find one that i am allowed. the only ones i see are at dealerships adn they say i have to be 18 to test drvie.
im confused about the 3rd gen. camaros. some people have told me that they are a waste of money but other people say that they are great cars. i have heard alot of opions but what are some of your specs.
what 1/4 mile times are you runnin? max torque? hp? ect..

thanks for your help.

they are great cars, i own a 90 Rally Sport camaro
its has a 5.0 liter engine "305" with a 5 speed
trans, i bought her for 3,500 at a buy here pay here
lot. its a nice car, it has 165,000 miles. i just
had to get the heads redone it would smoke
when id first start it up, had leakiy valve seals.
but that was a minor problem. i have a 2000 ss
too. but i still like the 3rd gen camaro, my advice
to you, get one with a v8, i owned a 91 with a
v6, nothing but a pile of junk.....if your concerend
about insurance, put it in your parents name.
the value on mine has went up some since the
02 was dicontinued. but anyway mine has about
200 hp with about 300 ft pounds of torque.
seems like 300 hp, till you drive one with 310 hp.
and find you one in good shape. call the last owner
i tried one out that someone had put 50w oil in
it so it wouldnt smoke, i had the oil changed
and it started smoking like a freight train. but
if you really look, check the engine out, OIL
and transmission fluid to see if its burnt.
well man good luck. there all good cars
they are on the endangered species list
in my area, so are 3rd gen trans ams.
they are nice to. i had a 87 gta. my uncle
gave me 9000 for it. it was restored and had a
383 stroker in it. well let us know how your search
goes.

i like the third gens. a lot of people think they are asthetically better (i think the forth gens are better lookin but im a little biased). anywho, as with any car there is the potential for problems, but from what i have heard they are pretty solid cars. whatever you do, dont get a v-6. they are dissappointing in the 4th gens and even more so in the thirds...

I also wanted a thirdgen when I was 16. I didnt end up owning one till I was 20 though. I lacked the money to get a really nice one and I missed out on a few deals. My car has almost 260k kms on it now and the engine and transmission have never been touched and they both run great. T t-tops do leak a bit but I just havent had time to adjust them and take care of that.

Alot of people advertise that a car may have a 5.7L TPI and if its the stock engine, the 8th digit on the VIN number should be 8. Theres a couple things like that to look out for. I have no regrets buying mine, im actually looking for a 2nd one.

As far as quarter mile times I think that one with a 5.7L TPI comes in around 14.5 in the quarter mile I think. The 5.0L HO TPI with 5 spd comes in very close to that also.

i got two, for a reason, i love them. i was shopping for a 1970 chevelle, test drove the RS, the black one, and my search ended, bought it on the spot. 3000 bucks, even with the enimic 170hp 305 in it. it was still a V8 :) drove that for three years. then got in an accident, took the insurance money and bought the IROC the red one, and havent looked back. the cars are tough, take a lickin and keep on goin, easy to work on, easy to fix. being old cars they do need alot of attention, but you learn to love them so, that you dont mind keeping them up. because its easy to do. i mean without any prior school or classes, i swapped transmissions in my IROC by myself without ever having done it before, in five hours. granted i had acces to a lift, trans jack, and tools, but still. thats how easy they are. something that major, was that simple. and things are rarely that bad. also i think you should hit up the classifieds, and probly just go out driving, to see if there are any on the street for sale in your area. although i live in virginia, i found my IROC online, ebay actually, and took a greyhound bus to arkansas to test drive it, and buy it, and bring it home. but i had done alot of homework by that point, and knew exactly what i was looking at, and for.

yea i love the 3rd gens, and if you do get a v6 many people have trouble selling them later on down the road, not many people are in the market for a v6 camaro

but you could pick on up cheap

although i live in virginia, i found my IROC online, ebay actually, and took a greyhound bus to arkansas to test drive it, and buy it, and bring it home. but i had done alot of homework by that point, and knew exactly what i was looking at, and for.


how was the ride home?

Im on my 4th 3rd gen right now.. Its a 91Z28 with a 350tpi.. Its got stock 245hp and 345ftlbs of torque... Its my baby.. People just about stop what theyre doin and look at it til' im gone.. Ive also owned 3rd gen V6 camaros.. If your looking for power or performance, Dont get a 2.8.. But the engines were tough as nails, good on gas, reliable, and cheap to operate... I didnt mind them

They're awesome cars.. The only downfall I find is that the ride is stiff and loud, and they all rattle and bang.. but rattles and stuff are simple enough to get rid of.. The stock suspension has also been poor throughout the third gen, but for an old car they can still handle pretty good...

You wont be dissapointed!
let us know how your search goes

My first camaro was an 82 then I had a 92 RS with the 305 TBI engine. Purple with light gray cloth interior. I loved that car so much. It was no land rocket but had nice power. Now I own a 99 3.8L/5 speed. The 3.8s got decent power especially in the 5 speed, still a blast to drive with the tops out and the wind in your hair. All three of my camaros had t-tops and I would never buy one without them. I have always loved every creak and rattle along with the stiff bumpy ride. My point of this whole reply is simple...buy the camaro that YOU like and you can't go wrong. I never did.

thanks for the imput. 89IROC&RS u said that you live in Va. i live around manassas in northern va. what part do you live in and have you seen any for sale? the only one ive seen recently for sale they wanted 6000 and it wasnt in the best shape so i didnt buy it.

buy 89iroc&rs camaro, i think he said hes selling the black one once its fixed, i think he said around 3000

lol, the ride home was awesome, definately a great experience, a solo road trip halfway cross country in a camaro, through the great states of tennessee (hot southern chicks, i love em) and windy mountain roads after driving through the midwest plains. it was good for my soul. not to get to deep or nothing

oh and yes, i am selling my black one. shes actually in great shape. inteior is great, new jasper engine, with 20,000 miles on it. currently have the front end off, cuz im repairing the damage done by a volovo and a lincoln. no fram damage, just very messed up body panels. which im replacing as we speak.

oh and i live in alexandria, about a mile down the road from mount vernon estate, just south of DC, PM me if youre interested

oh and if youre not interested in my RS, i do know of another teal one for sale, ill have to ask a guy at work exactly where it is.

ahh yes, i remember the first time a brought home a camaro...me and a buddy took a 300 mile road trip in a suburban with a trailer to a hole in the wall town to get her. drove back in 6 lane rush hour traffic with pricks riding my bumper and just hoping the camaro would come un-strapped so a jackass in a lincoln would get a new hood ornament. haven't regreted buy it yet. lol

89iroc&rs thanks for offering your rs, but i want to get one with teh 350 cu. in. if i can. could you ask the guy with the teal one how much he wants for it and if it has a 350.

thanks everyone for their help.

lol, naturaly i do love my IROC with the 350. and not to sound like an used cars salesman, but swaping a 350 into a 305 car is a no brainer. its the same exact engine on the outside. but yeah, ill look into that teal one and see what i can find out.

I got an 89 RS when I was 16. Beautiful car and I got it real cheap. I paid about $2,200. It had 82,000 miles on it, the body was in great condition, the paint, although a little dull, looked good. The only problem was the tranny slipped a little. But I put in a new 700r4 and the car still runs perfect even with 130,000 miles on it. It's only a 305 but thats still nothing to laugh at. Not the quickest car but definately not the slowest. I would say it is an excellent first car. Turn alot of heads but not have to worry about killing yourself.

o man, did you ever scrape going in and out that driveway.. lol

lol....yeah. It takes a good 5 minutes to get out without scraping.

lol, air bag suspention, that or hydrolics, you could bounce the car out of the driveway ;)

god, i thought my driveway is bad this is
tacoma man's rs in my sig. the front ground effect is scuffed in the middle now from going in
and out of his, he's got a steep driveway
and when you get to the bottom you have
to zig zag and go off at an angle to keep
from tearing it up. thats a sharp camaro you
have too.